1/3/11 - Kochi - Religious Diversity

Kerala’s 2000 Years of Religious Diversity and Tolerance

I was fascinated to learn that Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Jews have peacefully coexisted in Kerala for 2000 years.  The Muslims, Christians, and Jews all arrived from the Middle East, brought by their involvement in the spice trade.  Because Kerala has been active in the spice trade for so long, it was a place of culture contact long before the European colonizers arrived.  Already before the birth of Christ, Kerala was trading with Arabs, Greeks, and Romans. 

Our tour focused on old parts of Kochi that highlighted this religious diversity, three adjacent neighborhood named Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, and Jew Town.  Our guide in Kochi was the best on the whole trip - he showed us really interesting things, shared a wealth of knowledge, and creatively and generously accommodated our many requests.

Syrian Christian Churches

The history of Christianity in Kerala goes back nearly to the time of Christ.  Popular tradition holds that St. Thomas (“Doubting Thomas”) arrived in Kerala in 52 AD and founded a number of churches.  These old Christian churches follow the Syrian liturgy, and are therefore known as Syrian Christian churches.  It was our impression that over time, the Syrian Christian churches had integrated some Hindu symbolism and religious practices.  Unfortunately we did not get to visit any of these.

St. Francis Church

Built by the Portuguese in the 1500s, this is the oldest European church in India.  In successive waves of colonization, it has housed Catholics, Dutch Protestants, Anglicans, and now the Church of South India.

Santa Cruz Basilica

Always a Catholic church.  Original structure built in 1500s, current one built in late 1800s.

Mattancherry Palace

Built by the Portuguese in 1500s as a present to local Raja.  Local painters created amazing murals of Hindu scenes in many rooms.  Unfortunately, photography was not permitted inside the building.  But here are three pictures I found on the internet.

Paradesi Synagogue

Built in the 1500s, in a community called Jew Town that dates back to 52 AD.  It is the oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth.  Photography was again forbidden inside the building, so I’ve included an internet picture.

Fort Kochi

The neighborhood of Fort Kochi was filled with picturesque stores and other buildings.  We enjoyed wandering around.  Our guide took us to a spice store run by a women’s cooperative – I bought all the spices that were new to me!  He also took us to an excellent bookstore.  Books are much cheaper in India than in the US.  I got a nice book on Indian trees for $1, and a Keralan cookbook.  We saw many tourists in Fort Kochi, mainly young backpack granola types.

Kathakali Dance

In the evening, we went to a performance of traditional Keralan dance, termed Kathakali.  It reminded me of opera – there is a dramatic and stylized storyline, with the actors emoting strongly.  In Kathakali, the performers also use a series of hand gestures that have particular meanings.  However, only aficionados know what all these gestures mean.

1/4/11 - Kochi - A Day of Recuperation

Fab India

We took it easy on this day.  It was high time, we had been on such a rushed schedule ever since our arrival in India!

In the morning, Tricia and I went to a store called Fab India.  It is a chain store in India with nice, inexpensive clothes and housewares.  We were on a hunt for salwar kamises, the tunic and pants outfits often worn by Indian women.  Shobhana stayed at the hotel to work on her conference presentation for Mysore.  

Two and a half hours later, Tricia and I were done shopping.   I had found one outfit and Tricia found several.  The first part of our time was spent learning cultural clothing norms – for instance, we discovered that the longer the tunic, the narrower the pants should be.  In any case, the shopping process was quite entertaining, although the driver seemed to despair that we would ever finish – he came in the store several times to encourage us to move on to lunch.

The driver of course had a restaurant that he recommended for lunch.  However, we asked to be taken to a restaurant that we found in our guidebook.  The food was just as good as anywhere, much cheaper and less touristy!

Ayurvedic Massage

In the afternoon, all three of us got Ayurvedic massages at our hotel.  I was interested to discover a new massage philosophy and technique.  This one seemed to rely mainly on pouring hot oil on the body, and little circular massage movements.  To my mind, it was not as effective in relaxing the muscles as other massage traditions.  However, the oil was a powerful sensory experience – it was strongly scented and almost felt like eating a meal.  Several scents were used during the massage – the one that I remember most strongly had a spicy flavor, reminiscent of cloves and allspice.

Fancy Fish Dinner

For dinner, we ate at a well-known local fish restaurant, located on the premises of our hotel complex.  It had a lovely, outdoor setting, lit by lanterns.

1/5/11 - Enjoying the Backwaters of Kerala on a Houseboat

One of the contributions I was able to make by reading the guidebooks was a strong recommendation to spend a day on a houseboat, navigating the backwaters of Kerala.  Fortunately Shobhana and Tricia agreed to add this to our itinerary; it turned out to be a highlight of the trip!

Kerala’s “backwaters” comprise a web of waterways.  A series of rivers open out onto the ocean along the Kerala coast.  Somehow the pressure of the river water keeps the estuaries free of saltwater.  Over the centuries, humans have modified the natural environment to create a network of rice paddies and canals in this interstitial zone.  The transition from ocean to freshwater is not visible – it all just looks like a lot of water.  It’s also hard to tell from the surface what is a canal and what is a submerged rice paddy.  

As you move inland, eventually the scenery shifts from being mainly water to a mix of water and land, as the boats move into canals that traverse rural towns.  Houses are built along the edge of the canals; you can see children playing, families taking a bath, and clothes being washed.

On these watery surfaces, schools of picturesque houseboats swim through the canals.  These days, they all house tourists.  The houseboats share the water with local water taxis and canoes.  We did not see a single Western looking motorboat on our whole trip – the illusion of inhabiting another world was complete!

We looooved our houseboat so much!  The front area was an open-air living room and dining room, with nice furniture.  In back were three bedrooms and the kitchen.  We had use of two bedrooms, each with a bathroom.  So luxurious!  Plus, the boat came with three staff members: the pilot, the cook, and a guy who helped both of the other two.  The level of service was incredible.  We ate gourmet meals, and the staff were extremely attentive to all of our requests.

I had had the dream of living on a houseboat for over 20 years, ever since I discovered Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mysteries.  In these stories, the heroine and her archeologist husband live on a houseboat that travels down the Nile in 19th century Egypt.  I loved the descriptions of their dahabeeyah, and had dreamed of traveling on a houseboat ever since.  I was amazed to find the dream coming true in India rather than Egypt!

We stopped for lunch at the edge of a rice paddy, near a couple of other houseboats.

After lunch, I spent some time reading Arundhati Roy’s God of Small Things (which I hated); Tricia read Sarah McDonald’s Holy Cow (which she liked), and Shobhana worked on her conference paper (when she wasn’t steering the boat).  We saw several kingfishers, a famous local bird.  Later in the day, we moved into more populated areas.  

After sunset, we anchored near shore for the night, and were served another fabulous meal.  The whole day was like a dream.